In the home gardening industry, edging systems can be employed to create a border between a garden feature and natural surroundings. A variety of garden features can be defined by an edging system including, without limitation, a flower bed, a vegetable garden, and a sandbox.
Raised bed gardening is a form of gardening in which the soil is formed in a bed having predetermined dimensions, depending in part upon the size limitations of the surrounding space. For example, a raised bed can be in the form of a 3-4 foot (1.0-1.2 m) wide bed, which can be of any length or shape. The soil is raised above the surrounding soil (6 inches to waist high), sometimes enclosed by a frame generally made of wood, rock, or concrete blocks, and enriched with compost or the like. The vegetable plants or flowers are spaced in geometric patterns, much closer together than in conventional row gardening. The spacing is such that when the vegetables are fully grown, their leaves just barely touch each other, creating a microclimate in which moisture is conserved and weed growth suppressed. Raised beds produce a variety of benefits: they extend the planting season; they have better drainage; they reduce the need to use poor native soil; and they can reduce weeds if designed properly. Since the gardener does not walk on the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing. The close plant spacing and the use of compost generally result in higher yields with raised beds in comparison to conventional row gardening. Waist high raised beds enable the elderly and the sick to grow vegetables without having to bend over to tend them.
One versatile edging system known in the art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,367 of Marino et al., assigned to the present assignee. The Marino et al. system includes support brackets that receive timber of arbitrary length and stakes of different shapes and sizes. The bracket has a beam receiving portion that receives and fastens to any standard size strip of lumber, including hollow, engineered lumber such as may be constructed as a composite of recycled plastic, wood fiber, rice hulls, resin, in various proportions from zero to a finite amount.
Edging systems, including raised bed gardens, can thus come in a modular set up to make construction easy compared to the conventional manner of making such systems which included cutting wood, etc.
In addition to having the correct soil to promote optimal growing conditions, it will also be appreciated that light conditions are critical in order to achieve optimal growing. Different plants and flowers have different needs in terms of the amount of daily sunlight with some plants requiring full sun and some plants requiring partial sun, etc.
Unfortunately, many times optimal lighting conditions cannot be achieved due to various factors, including the location of the gardening area. For example, it may not be possible due to yard boundaries, house location, etc., to install the edging system (raised garden) at a south facing location.
As a result, supplemental lighting can be used in order to supplement the light source and provide the plants with more optimal growing conditions. A grow light or plant light is an artificial light source, generally an electric light, designed to stimulate plant growth by emitting an electromagnetic spectrum appropriate for photosynthesis. Grow lights are used in applications where there is either no naturally occurring light, or where supplemental light is required. For example, in the winter months when the available hours of daylight may be insufficient for the desired plant growth, grow lights are used to extend the amount of time the plants receive light.
Grow lights either attempt to provide a light spectrum similar to that from the sun, or to provide a spectrum that is more tailored to the needs of the plants being cultivated. Outdoor conditions are mimicked with varying color temperatures and spectral outputs from the grow light, as well as varying the lumen output (intensity) of the lamps. Depending on the type of plant being cultivated, the stage of cultivation (e.g., the germination/vegetative phase or the flowering/fruiting phase), and the photoperiod required by the plants, specific ranges of spectrum, luminous efficacy and color temperature are desirable for use with specific plants and time periods.
Natural daylight has a high color temperature (approx. 6000 K). Visible light color varies according to the weather, and angle of the sun, and specific quantities (measured in Lumens) of light stimulate photosynthesis. Distance from the sun has little effect on seasonal changes in the quality and quantity of light and the resulting plant behavior during those seasons. The Earth tilts on its axis as it revolves around the sun. During the summer we get nearly direct sunlight and during the winter we get sunlight at a 23.44 degree angle to the equator. This small tilt of the Earth's axis changes the effective thickness of the atmosphere with respect to the distance sunlight has to travel to reach our particular area on Earth. The color spectrum of light that the sun sends us does not change, only the quantity (more during the summer and less during winter) and quality of overall light reaching us.
Different stages of plant growth require different spectra. The initial vegetative stage requires blue spectrum of light, whereas the later “flowering” stage is usually done with red-orange spectra. Light bulbs can be manufactured with a specific spectrum range or can be full spectrum. There are number of different suitable light source that can be used as grow lights.
Recent advancements in LEDs allow production of relatively inexpensive, bright, and long-lasting grow lights that emit only the wavelengths of light corresponding to the absorption peaks of a plant's typical photochemical processes. Compared to other types of grow lights, LEDs are attractive to indoor growers since they consume much less electrical power, do not require ballasts, and produce considerably less heat. This allows LEDs to be placed closer to the plant canopy than other lights. Also, plants transpire less, as a result of the reduction in heat, and thus the time between watering cycles is longer. There are multiple absorption peaks for chlorophyll and carotenoids, and LED grow-lights may use one or more LED colors overlapping these peaks. For vegetative growth, blue LEDs are preferred, where the light has a wavelength somewhere in the mid-400 nm. For growing fruits or flowers, a greater proportion of deep-red LEDs is considered preferable, with light very near 660 nm, the exact wavelength number being much more critical than for the blue LED.
Newer advanced LED grow lights are constructed to use high-brightness multiple-watt LEDs, with growing results similar to HID lights. Grow light LEDs are increasing in power consumption resulting in increased effectiveness of the technology. LEDs used in previous designs were 1 watt in power, however 3 watt and even 5 watt LEDs are now commonly used in LED grow lights. LED grow lights are now being produced which exceed 600 watts.
Since ideal light conditions may not be present at many locations, including both indoor and outdoor settings, there is a need to have a supplemental lighting system that permits a supplemental light system to be added as an accessory to an edging system.